She Wins, I Win Too
As Lan Ziya's spirit caught up, he saw Heir Apparent Gao's eyes widen as he fell straight down.
"Too fast."
Lan Ziya was looking at the corpse of Heir Apparent Gao, but his mind kept replaying the scene of the Heavenly Ranking killing Gu Qiuxing.
Just as he was about to approach the battlefield, he saw Gu Qiuxing die suddenly, and two other ghostly figures flew away and fled.
Having chased them all this way, Chu Tianshu had actually managed to rescue a group of prisoners from the imperial prison.
"The master is truly farsighted; his strategies are as swift as a gazelle's horns, ingenious beyond words."
Lan Ziya stroked his beard, pondering, "When the lonely soul entered the Yanxia, could it have already foreseen this step?"
Chu Tianshu coughed lightly, and a wave of light spread out, immobilizing the acupoints of the bystanders wherever it passed.
He realized that Lan Ziya seemed to have a slightly overly strong bias towards him.
In fact, he had no idea that Lu Shuangyan was still alive, and he was quite surprised when he ran into the Yanxia Realm.
He couldn't have predicted that Xie Luoxian and the others would decide to attack him at that opportune moment because of the inheritance of their external martial arts skills from back then.
However, his cultivation had no obvious weaknesses, and his sensing ability was strong. He sensed the approach of the three souls and decided to go with the flow and fight them.
The Yanxia Realm is not as tolerant as the Spirit Realm of my hometown.
Back then, when Chu Tianshu cultivated his physical body into the "Martial Stove God," he was already able to enter the Spirit Realm with his physical body.
The standards in the Yanxia Realm are even stricter; any attempt to bring in a physical body will be rejected.
However, when Chu Tianshu first obtained the Great Void Heavenly Eye, he did not hesitate to expose himself to radiation to temper his physique and deeply cultivate the Taixu Dharma. Even his physical essence could be transformed and integrated with the Grand Void Radiation to enhance his soul.
Even if it's just a matter of the soul entering the Yanxia, it still possesses over 90% of its combat power.
It should be said that Wan Longsheng and his group did not make the wrong choice.
In that environment, Chu Tianshu would indeed be affected, but unfortunately, the impact would be very limited.
You've come at the right time. Please stay here and look after everyone for a moment.
Chu Tianshu said, "My soul traveled underground unnoticed, and then returned to my body before rushing over."
Lan Ziya nodded, his gaze sweeping over the people who had just come out of the imperial prison. He was surprised to see several old friends with whom he had shared some past acquaintances. He couldn't help but feel a deep sense of emotion.
He knew that sometimes his praise might have overestimated the master's cunning.
However, he could also tell that while the immortal felt slightly embarrassed each time, he secretly enjoyed being praised.
This is something that makes him seem like a teenager.
Ordinary older folks, in theory, wouldn't feel embarrassed at all when they hear praise.
Lan Ziya found this somewhat intriguing, but also even more admiring.
If one truly retains a youthful spirit, yet, as in Jingxiang, is able to make so many mature arrangements, possessing an open mind, acting generously, and remaining steadfast.
Such a person deserves no praise whatsoever.
Chu Tianshu flashed into the ground and disappeared.
Lan Ziya withdrew his gaze and said, "Gentlemen, I was imprisoned in the former residence of the Transcendent Preceptor and Chancellor for ten years, and I have done considerable research on the application of Plum Blossom Numerology Divination in residential settings."
"And within this Duke's mansion, we will find some of the most restful places to help you all settle in."
In just over half an hour, Chu Tianshu had returned to his physical body and rushed over from Fire God Gully.
Also accompanying them Dream-Eating Marquis and others, who brought Lan Ziya's physical body with them.
After Lan Ziya returned to his physical body, he closed his eyes and circulated his internal energy under the corridor, and his withered face gradually became fuller.
The Dream-Eating Marquis looked around.
"Great Immortal, why are we lingering here? Now that the three of us are all here, why don't we go and attack the palace together?"
Chu Tianshu shook his head. "Wan Longsheng's cultivation method is extraordinary; it's too restrictive for those who can't reach his level."
"One of you is the Martial God of Wealth, and the other is a dream weaver. It's pointless for you to go and join the war; it would be a waste of your strengths."
Upon hearing this, the Dream-Eating Marquis suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.
"My strengths—how should I do them if I don't want to waste them?"
Chu Tianshu smiled and said, "You have witnessed the changes in Jingxiang with your own eyes, and now you have seen the prisoners in the imperial prison. From them, you can learn how lawless the court, which represents the law, can be."
"I want you to create two kinds of Crystal Dream, based on these two principles."
"Let's start with three thousand portions of each type."
Upon Dream-Eating Marquis turned deathly pale. "Three, three, three thousand portions?!"
Chu Tianshu reached out and put her arm around his shoulder.
"My lord, what are you afraid of? Think about it, why was it so difficult to create your Crystal Dream? It was because you had to go to great lengths to create characters and give the dreamer a strong sense of immersion, a sense of interactive accomplishment."
"This is where you'll truly exhaust yourself. Now, all you need to do is record these two Crystal Dream truthfully."
"We don't need to consider the dreamer's immersion or interactivity; as long as it can be played repeatedly, that's fine. If it can be projected onto a canvas, that would be even better."
The Dream-Eating Marquis's face regained some color, and he stroked his chin, lost in thought.
"What the master means is that it only needs to be a moving picture, not a dreamscape like a real game—but wouldn't that make the sense of immersion quite poor? Can the viewer truly get into it?"
Chu Tianshu and Lan Ziya exchanged a glance and couldn't help but laugh.
"My lord."
Chu Tianshu patted the Dream-Eating Marquis on the shoulder meaningfully, "It's a good thing you're not surnamed Sima, at least you didn't directly say 'Why don't they eat meat porridge?'"
Lan Ziya wasn't so narrow-minded; he explained in detail.
"Dream Marquis, who do you think this Crystal Dream is meant for? Of the millions of people in the Great Xuan, how many have actually enjoyed the dreams you sell?"
Although the Dream-Eating Marquis had three thousand disciples who traveled all over the world to collect dreams, the number of dreams they traded was considerable.
However, the customers who actually buy into the dream are relatively fixed.
The vast majority of people have never experienced the dream world that the Marquis's mansion sold after its exquisite renovation.
For them, even Crystal Dream projected onto a canvas is the most novel experience.
Just like the comments made by some of the older generation about Chu Tianshu's hometown.
In a certain era, film was the fastest and most advanced propaganda tool.
The countless simple consciousnesses awakened by those free open-air movies shown in villages are truly immeasurable.
"The capital city also boasts the highest concentration of bookstores in the entire country, making book and newspaper publishing extremely convenient."
Chu Tianshu then said to Lan Ziya, "I want your caravans to control some bookstores and spread these two types of articles to various places in a factual but condensed style."
"The text doesn't need to be long, the language doesn't need to be fancy, it just needs to be something that people in the fields can understand, and it can even be a joke or anecdote."
Lan Ziya stroked his long beard and nodded thoughtfully. "Imitate the story of Bai Juyi, the 'Poet Demon'?"
"You could say that."
Chu Tianshu looked up at the sky, "The Yanxia are the power of the masses."
"If the Great Xuan does well, the people will naturally be of one mind. But if the Great Xuan has already become like this, yet still considers itself the legitimate ruler for many years, taking the people's obedience for granted—"
"Ha, there's no such thing as taking things for granted."
"Moreover, will the court, which I have cornered in the capital and which has not retaliated, feel threatened and have more people oppose me, or will it see an opportunity and have more people oppose the court?"
A court that is repeatedly weak may lose its prestige even faster than one that treats its people poorly.
Chu Tianshu took a deep breath.
The title of the Great Immortal Zongheng, which has already risen to second place, and the reputation of the Death-Claiming Sword God on the Ancient Heavenly Ranking, both overflowed with brilliance, converging into a stream of illusory colors that descended.
It manifested about three feet above his head, like a pillar of colorful fire, surging down and bathing his entire body.